Professor Tom Ray of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) has been awarded one of the European Research Council’s (ERC) prestigious Advanced Grants to study the birth of stars and planets. Tom is an Irish astronomer whose work sheds light on what the Solar System would have looked like 5 billion years ago when it began to form. During this rather chaotic and turbulent period matter is not only gravitationally sucked onto a newborn star like the Sun but ejected as well in the form of highly supersonic jets that stretch for light-years.
His proposal, “Ejection Accretion Structures in Young Stellar Objects (YSOs)” with acronym EASY, aims to use the latest observing facilities, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, the European low frequency radio telescope LOFAR (with an Irish node funded by SFI currently under construction in Birr, County Offaly) and those of the European Southern Observatory, to improve our understanding of the complex processes involved. Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) awarded Prof Ray an ERC development grant and this was crucial in enabling him to obtain all the necessary international observatory agreements.
This round was highly competitive with only 9.6% of proposals being funded. The grant of just under 2M Euro will support seven research positions in DIAS.
Speaking on behalf of DIAS Prof Luke Drury, Director of the School of Cosmic Physics, said “We are all delighted for Tom. DIAS, like the ERC, is an organisation that believes in the pursuit of excellence and curiosity-driven research; this award is a vindication of that vision at the highest level”.
Graeme Horley, SFI Programme Manager and ERC National Contact Point said, “We are delighted that Tom has been successful in winning an ERC Advanced Grant. These awards are among the most highly sought after in Europe and are extremely difficult to win. We are particularly pleased that the support provided to Prof. Ray through our ERC Development Programme has helped in this success. We congratulate Tom and look forward to learning about the exciting developments from this project over the coming years”.
For further information contact:
Prof Tom Ray, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies,
e-Mail tr@cp.dias.ie
Phone 087 9062696
Dr Graeme Horley, Science Foundation Ireland, ERC National contact point,
e-Mail graeme.horley@sfi.ie
ERC web site and list of awards:
https://erc.europa.eu/news/erc-advanced-grants-540-million-euros-eu-231-senior-researchers
Leave a Comment
Last Updated: 23rd May 2018 by mary
Friday 7th April : DIAS astronomer wins ERC Advanced Grant with SFI support – no EASY feat
Professor Tom Ray of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) has been awarded one of the European Research Council’s (ERC) prestigious Advanced Grants to study the birth of stars and planets. Tom is an Irish astronomer whose work sheds light on what the Solar System would have looked like 5 billion years ago when it began to form. During this rather chaotic and turbulent period matter is not only gravitationally sucked onto a newborn star like the Sun but ejected as well in the form of highly supersonic jets that stretch for light-years.
His proposal, “Ejection Accretion Structures in Young Stellar Objects (YSOs)” with acronym EASY, aims to use the latest observing facilities, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, the European low frequency radio telescope LOFAR (with an Irish node funded by SFI currently under construction in Birr, County Offaly) and those of the European Southern Observatory, to improve our understanding of the complex processes involved. Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) awarded Prof Ray an ERC development grant and this was crucial in enabling him to obtain all the necessary international observatory agreements.
This round was highly competitive with only 9.6% of proposals being funded. The grant of just under 2M Euro will support seven research positions in DIAS.
Speaking on behalf of DIAS Prof Luke Drury, Director of the School of Cosmic Physics, said “We are all delighted for Tom. DIAS, like the ERC, is an organisation that believes in the pursuit of excellence and curiosity-driven research; this award is a vindication of that vision at the highest level”.
Graeme Horley, SFI Programme Manager and ERC National Contact Point said, “We are delighted that Tom has been successful in winning an ERC Advanced Grant. These awards are among the most highly sought after in Europe and are extremely difficult to win. We are particularly pleased that the support provided to Prof. Ray through our ERC Development Programme has helped in this success. We congratulate Tom and look forward to learning about the exciting developments from this project over the coming years”.
For further information contact:
Prof Tom Ray, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies,
e-Mail tr@cp.dias.ie
Phone 087 9062696
Dr Graeme Horley, Science Foundation Ireland, ERC National contact point,
e-Mail graeme.horley@sfi.ie
ERC web site and list of awards:
https://erc.europa.eu/news/erc-advanced-grants-540-million-euros-eu-231-senior-researchers
Category: News
Colin Hogg, School of Cosmic Physics came up with the idea of weusemaths.ie it shows how maths is used in many ways, how it links back into the maths curriculum and how students can select CAO courses for a specific career.irishtimes.com/news/science/w… #DIASdiscovers
THE HEAVENS, a series of thought-provoking films exploring astronomy and the universe, introduced by Prof. @Luke_Drury, will be held every Monday in Nov 2018, The Music Room, Christ Church Cathedral. For more details please see christchurchcathedral.ie #DIASDublin #DIASDiscovers
#Dunsink #DIASDiscovers twitter.com/mathsweek/stat…
Congratulations to our own @petertgallagher on receiving a Civic Recognition Award presented to him by @offalycoco for his outstanding work with @I_LOFAR #DIASDublin #DIASDiscovers
The annual Hamilton walk takes place today. The walk will retrace Hamilton’s steps from Dunsink Observatory to Broom Bridge in Cabra where he had his Eureka moment, the discovery of Quaternions. More info dias.ie/event/annual-h… #DIASDublin #DIASDiscovers
Celebrate Samhain by joining DIAS for a DARK Matter day event: Don't be afraid of the dark #DIASDiscovers #darkmatterday #samhainagusscience book now: samhainagusscience.eventbrite.ie
Celebrate Samhain by joining DIAS for a DARK Matter day event: Don't be afraid of the dark #DIASDiscovers #darkmatterday #samhainagusscience samhainagusscience.eventbrite.ie
We are delighted to welcome Prof. @petertgallagher as the new head of astronomy & astrophysics @DIAS_Dublin. Prof. Gallagher is lead developer of (I-LOFAR) and has led some of the most significant Irish research projects in astrophysics dias.ie/2018/10/08/pet… … #DIASDublin
The Celtic Explorer returned to port (Galway) this afternoon. Everyone is well. All instruments were successfully deployed by #seaseis. Welcome home! #DIASDiscovers #Diasatsea
No discussion of Schroedinger is ever complete without mention of the cat #weloveschroedinger #DIASDiscovers
Professor Luke O'Neill discussing the seminal work 'What is life" #diasdiscovers #weloveschroedinger
Arthur Riordan keeping it real about Erwin Scroendinger. We need a production of Improbable Frequency! #diasdiscovers
Kicking off our FOH event: Erwin Schroedinger - Ireland's adopted son #DIASDiscovers
This year's Hamilton Walk is on Tues 16th October. The walk along the Royal Canal commemorates Hamilton's Eureka moment, when he discovered Quaternions . irishtimes.com/news/science/t… … More details dias.ie/event/annual-h… … mathsweek.ie/2018/event/ham… … #DIASDublin #DIASDiscovers
Namor (seismometer no. 12) was deployed by #seaseis. It was named after the Marvel superhero and the name was submitted by Glenstal Abbey School, Murroe, Co Limerick. We've also started video links with schools coastmonkey.ie/sea-seis-exped… #diasdiscovers #diasatsea